NBA season tips off, NFL update

NBA Tips off 2012-13 Season

• The NBA regular season started last night with three games, including the defending NBA champion Miami Heat. In the first game, the Cleveland Cavaliers, powered by Kyrie Irving and Anderson Varejao, defeated the Washington Wizards 94-84.
• The Heat began their title defense against the Boston Celtics. Before the game, they raised their championship banner and received their rings and then proceeded to beat the Celtics behind 29 points from Dwayne Wade and 26 from Lebron James. Ironically, when the Celtics raised their championship banner in 2008, James was on the sidelines as a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers. 
• In the closing seconds of the game, Rajon Rondo grabbed Wade around the neck as he went to the basket and was assessed a flagrant foul.  Wade said the foul was a "punk play" and James said it "wasn't a basketball play."
• In the late game, the L.A. Lakers showed off new premier acquisitions Dwight Howard and Steve Nash against the Dallas Mavericks but it was the Mavs new acquisitions of Elton Brand, Darren Collison and O.J. Mayo who played better as Dallas won 99-91 despite not having Dirk Nowitzki who will be out for 6-8 weeks because of a knee surgery.
• Howard had 19 points and 10 rebounds but shot a miserable 3-14 from the Free Throw line and Nash had only 7 points and 4 assists.  All was not terrible for the Lakers though as Kobe Bryant was a very efficient 11-14 for 22 points and Pau Gasol had 23 points, 13 rebounds and 6 assists.


NFL almost halfway done

• The best teams in the league prove their dominance in Week 8. The Green Bay Packers, New England Patriots, Atlanta Falcons and San Francisco 49ers all won by at least 9 points.
• The New York Giants and Dallas Cowboys played a see-saw game. The Giants roared out to a 23-0 lead but the Cowboys came all the way back to take a 24-23 lead. The Giants were able to claw back by kicking 2 fourth quarter field goals. A last minute desperation touchdown by the Cowboys was deemed to be out of bounds by the slightest of margins when Cowboys receiver Dez Bryant’s fingers landed out of bounds before any of the rest of his body landed in play.
• Perhaps the biggest surprise of the day was the Cleveland Browns holding the San Diego Chargers to only 6 points in their 7-6 victory. The Browns, behind rookie running back Trent Richardson’s 122 yards, dominated a nasty-weather game. The Chargers fell to 3-4 after a 3-1 start, are still in the hunt for a playoff spot if they are able to turn it around and show some consistency.
• The Chargers look to get back on track tomorrow in this week's Thursday night game against the Kansas City Chiefs who are mightily struggling and will start QB Matt Cassel only a week after he was benched because backup Brady Quinn suffered a concussion.

World Series, NCAA wrap, NBA trade

Giants win World Series

• The Giants must have just decided that they were tired of coming from behind.  Despite being on the brink on elimination twice in the National League portion of the playoffs, facing a total of six elimination games in those two series, the San Francisco made it to the World Series, where they put their fans through much less stress, easily defeating the Detroit Tigers in a 4-0 sweep.
• The final game was played in Detroit and went to 10 innings where Marco Scutaro drove in Ryan Theriot to give the Giants a 4-3 lead before Sergio Romo shut down the Tigers hitters in the bottom of the inning to set off a wild celebration.
• The high-powered Tigers offense, led by Triple Crown winner Miguel Cabrera and free agent signee Prince Fielder managed only 6 runs in the entire series and none in games 2 or 3.  The loss was even more painful for Tigers infielder Omar Infante who broke his hand when he was hit by a pitch in the 8th inning.
•The series MVP was Pablo Sandoval in set the tone in Game 1, hitting three home runs for the Giants, who take home their second World Series title in three years.


NCAA Highlighted by Horrific Injury

• South Carolina was looking to bounce back after back-to-back losses when they played Tennessee this Saturday and things were off to a good start as Junior running back Marcus Lattimore, fresh off of a major knee injury last year, was leading the Gamecocks to victory. In the second quarter, he was hit low by the helmet of a UT player and the world collectively gasped. Lattimore’s knee bent in a very unnatural way and he collapsed to the ground. The verdict is unclear, but Lattimore will not be playing any more this year, and his 2013 season is up in the air. In the eyes of your author, this injury only has one comparison in its ugliness, that was Willis McGahee in 2003 during the national championship game. Lattimore can be comforted by the fact that McGahee has had a long, productive NFL career.
• The second biggest piece of news out of College Football this weekend was Georgia defeating Florida. Florida was ranked #2 in the country, but turned the ball over six times leading to a 17-9 victory of the Bulldogs.
• Notre Dame continued to prove they belong by defeating the #8 overall Oklahoma Sooners 30-13. Meanwhile, Arizona defeated USC for the first time at home since 1999, giving the Trojans their second loss of the year.


Big Trade in the NBA

• In a league defined by Big Trios, the Oklahoma City Thunder looked like they had their core trio of Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden, all under 25 and all top 25 players in the league. The wildcard in those three was Harden, who was the 6th man for the Thunder (the first guy off the bench). He entered this season on the last year of his contract.
• The Thunder offered Harden a four year-$55 million contract. Harden refused, knowing he could get more on the open market. Instead of waiting for Harden to leave next summer, the Thunder made a move by sending Harden, as well as 3 other players, to the Houston Rockets in exchange for sharpshooter Kevin Martin, recent draftee Jeremy Lamb and 3 draft picks (including 2 first rounders).
• Harden will be able to be the star in Houston (alongside Jeremy Lin) and the Thunder will have a ton of pieces to play with as they look to continue to build around Durant and Westbrook. It is a little surprising that the move was made when it was, as the Thunder were one of the few teams who had legitimate title aspirations. It is unclear at the moment whether this move will help or hinder those aspirations.

NBA commissioner announces retirement plans, World Series is 2-0.

Stern to retire in 2014

• Longstanding NBA commissioner David Stern has announced that he will retire on February 1, 2014.  Stern's hand-picked replacement, Adam Silver will replace him at that time and the owners are already planning to negotiate a deal with him to make the transition occur seamlessly.
• During Stern's tenure, the average player salary jumped 20 times, from $250'000 to around $5 million and the TV revenue increased by 40 times.  Stern is not without his dark spots though, having twice watched the NBA lose regular season games due to lengthy lockouts, and even more recently, vetoing Chris Paul's trade to the Lakers, instead watching him get dealt to the cross-town rival L.A. Clippers.
• The reasoning for the exact date of his departure is that it is exactly 30 years to the day after he first took the job (pictured above), a decision that in itself is in character with Stern's need to be in control and micromanage details.


Giants go up 2-0

• A day after Pablo Sandoval hit three home runs to fuel a rout, the Giants won Game 2 by a score of 2-0 with a double play RBI, a sacrifice and a terrific pitching performance from Madison Bumgarner. 
• The closest the Tigers got to scoring was in the second inning when Prince Fielder was hit by a pitch and tried to score on Delmon Young's double.  He was thrown out at home and instead of having no outs with men at second and third, the Tigers had one out with a man at second and could not get him (or anyone else) across the plate.  The Tigers would only manage one more base hit, a single by Omar Infante (who was then picked off) for the rest of the game.
• The series now heads back to Detroit where the Tigers will try to come back and make it a series.  The Giants on the other hand are in unusual territory, leading a series, after being down 2-0 and 3-1 in their previous two series. 
• On Saturday, Detroit's Anibal Sanchez goes against San Francisco's Ryan Vogelsong.

Managers moving, World Series starts tonight

Coaches on the move

- The Boston Red Sox, on Tuesday, announced the hiring of their next manager, former Toronto Blue Jays skipper John Farrell. Farrell was the Red Sox pitching coach from 2007-2010, and a favorite amongst many of the players.  He replaces Bobby Valentine, who only lasted one disastrous year, and made enemies with many of the team's longstanding stars, including David Ortiz, who Valentine took a parting shot at.
- Meanwhile, in Miami, the Marlins announced that they would be firing manager Ozzie Guillen. Guillen, who was suspended early in the season for comments about Fidel Castro, and has made waves many times in his managerial career which began with the White Sox, underachieved by only winning 69 games despite having the 7th biggest payroll in the Major Leagues. As of now, there is no reported replacement.


World Series Starts Tonight

- The San Francisco Giants and Detroit Tigers will begin the 2012 World Series tonight in San Francisco.  Homefield advantage, which is decided during the All-Star game is definitely appropriate given that Giants ace Matt Cain was the winning pitcher for the NL, Verlander was the losing pitcher for the AL and Giants 3B Pablo Sandoval drove in 3 runs with a first inning triple (off of Verlander).  One All-Star who will be missing from the World Series, however, is All-Star game MVP Melky Cabrera who was suspended for performance enhancing drugs soon after his All-Star appearance.
- Barry Zito, who has underachieved for most of his 7 year, $126 million deal but has played well this year, gets a chance for some redemption as he is slated to pitch Game One against Tigers ace Justin Verlander.  Zito was left off of the Giants 2010 World Series team despite not being injured.
- The Tigers completed their sweep of the New York Yankees almost a week ago and are led by Triple Crown winner Miguel Cabrera and slugger Prince Fielder.  The Tigers will also be well rested, having finished their ALCS round on Thursday as opposed to the, Giants who completed the NLCS only Monday.

World Series Almost Set, and the Best Keep Getting Better in College

Baseball preparing for the World Series

The American League representatives are set. The Detroit Tigers took advantage of a New York Yankees team that was hurt and had forgotten how to hit, sweeping the Yanks out of the playoff s and themselves into the World Series.

After defeating the Giants 8-3 Thursday night, the Cardinals are one win away from their fourth World Series berth in the past nine years, but they know better than to take the Giants for granted after the Giants just won three straight do or die games against the Reds to advance to this round.
 Adam Wainwright was dominant in this game, only allowing 1 run and 4 hits in his seven innings of work and the Cardinals pounded out 12 hits, including 3 doubles as the game was never close.
 The Cardinals also led the 1999 NLCS 3-1 but lost the next three games to the Atlanta Braves, including two losses by 14+ runs. It's doubtful that anyone playing for this team knows or cares about that history, but it's just proof that it's happened before and could potentially happen again if the Giants get hot.
 In Game 7, which will take place tonight, Giants ace Matt Cain will pitch against the Cardinal’s Kyle Lohse, who pitched in Game 3.

NCAA Cream Rises

·         Alabama continues to dominate Tennessee 44-13 to keep their #1 ranking. The rest of the top 5 also held up their end of the bargain.

·         Florida, Oregon and Kansas State all dominated their opponents, with Florida (South Carolina) and K-State (West Virginia) defeating top 15 opponents, soundly.

·         In the most recent BCS rankings, Kansas State leapfrogged Oregon to take the #3 spot, behind only Alabama and Florida. Oregon fell to 4 and Norte Dame held at #5.

MLB Playoff Update

Yankees on brink

• The 2012 postseason has been marked by odds-defying comebacks; among them the Cardinals coming back from a 6-0 deficit to take the do-or-die Game 5, the Giants coming back from a 2-0 series deficit to advance past the Reds and the Yankees coming back from a 4-0 deficit in the 9th inning to tie Game 1 of the ALCS (although they fell short in extra innings).  However, after Justin Verlander threw another masterful game on Tuesday (3 hits and 1 run in a 2-1 win) to give the Tigers a 3-0 series lead, the Yankees will need to make the most impressive comeback of them all to win the series. Verlander's biggest achievement may be off the field, with his rumored romance with SI Swimsuit Cover Model Kate Upton.
• Only once in MLB history (and never in the NBA for what it's worth) has a team down 3-0 come back to win a series.  Yankees fans will, of course, remember that this happened to them in 2004 against the Boston Red Sox.
• Making this feat even more improbable is the fact that the Yankees are without captain Derek Jeter, the heart and soul of their team.  Perhaps they could benefit from slumping star A-Rod getting a pep talk from good friend Kobe Bryant, although Bryant's comments to the media afterwards ("Sometimes A-Rod forgets he's the best, whereas I don't) aren't fully inspirational.  The Yankees still have loads of talent but winning 4 straight against a good Tigers team may be too much to ask.


Giants tie series

• On Monday night the Giants put it all together, combining great pitching with timely hitting and they took advantage of a critical error by Matt Holiday to beat the Cardinals 7-1 to tie the series.  The scary thing for Cardinals fans is that it wasn't ace Matt Cain or former Cy Young Winner Tim Lincecum on the mound for the Giants but Ryan Vogelsong who shut them down to just 5 hits.
•  Lead by lead-off hitter Angel Pagan, the Giants teed off on Cardinals starter Chris Carpenter who gave up 5 runs in 6 innings, though only two of them were earned.

Jeter down, NCAA has wild finishes

The Captain Goes Down

• For the third time in four nights the New York Yankees were playing an extra inning game. In the 12th inning of the first game against the Detroit Tigers on Saturday night, Yankee Captain Derek Jeter ranged to his left to field a ground ball by Jhonny Peralta. As he planted to throw out a runner at second, his left leg buckled and he collapsed to the ground in pain.
• Jeter was carried off the field by manager Joe Girardi and another member of the Yankee’s staff, putting no weight on his left leg. In his post-game press conference Girardi acknowledged what many Yankees fans had been dreading, that Jeter would be out for the rest of the season, no matter how far the Yankees progressed due to a broken left ankle.
• Jeter’s injury is particularly painful to the Yankees because he was one of the few regular starters who had been playing well in the playoffs. The big bats of Robinson Cano, Curtis Granderson, Nick Swisher and Alex Rodriguez have been largely silent, while Jeter was hitting .350 when he got injured. Jeter will be replaced in the lineup by Jayson Nix, and on the roster by Eduardo Nunez.
• The Yankees are down 2-0 in the best of 7 series.


Thrilling NCAA finishes

• There were a number of fantastic college games this weekend and for the most part, they did not disappoint as many games came down to the wire.
• Probably the best game involved two of the smartest schools in the Top 25, #17 Stanford at #7 Notre Dame.  Stanford led for most of the game, but after Notre Dame QB Everett Golson was knocked out with a head injury, backup Tommy Rees came in and led the Irish to a game-tying field goal as time expired.  In overtime, Notre Dame scored a touchdown first and Stanford, attempting to tie, reached Notre Dame's 1 yard line with 3 chances to force a second OT.
• The first two runs by star RB Stepfan Taylor were clearly short, but on 4th down he tried again and controversy ensued.  Taylor appeared to be stopped, and an official blew the whistle, ending the play and the game.  But Taylor had not stopped moving and after the whistle blew, he continued to move, scoring a touchdown.  (He may have fumbled before crossing the goal line but his teammate recovered in the end zone so either way Stanford would have tied the game).  The play was reviewed with no change.
• Another great game was #3 South Carolina playing against #9 LSU.  Before the game, Steve Spurrier joked that he got confused as to which Death Valley he was playing in, (It's the deadlier of the two, but no disrespect meant to this one).  South Carolina led in the fourth quarter, but LSU scored twice to take a 9 point lead, and South Carolina could only get within 2 points before the game ended, halting their perfect season.
• Speaking of perfect seasons ending, West Virginia's Geno Smith had not only led his team to a perfect record, but had put up near-perfect offensive stats in doing so up to this point in the season.  That streak came to a screeching halt against Texas Tech as he threw only one TD and WVU was obliterated 49-14 at the hands of the Red Raiders.

MLB Divisional Series matchups completed

• Though lacking in the gravitas of the label “Game 7” in the case of Major League Baseball’s league division series, all four series went to Game 5 and the final one was probably the most thrilling
• In the National League Game 4 was won by the Nationals after much beleaguered, highly paid, outfielder Jayson Werth’s walk-off homerun in the 9th inning. Werth battled Lance Lynn through a 13-pitch at bat, with foul balls hitting numerous Cardinal fielders, until he finally put the 13th pitch into the left field stands. Game 5 saw the Nationals ride that momentum to a hot start and a 6-0 lead but the defending champion Cardinals came back, and despite being down 7-5 with 2 outs in the 9th, they won 9-7.  The Nationals shut down their best pitcher, Stephen Strasburg, earlier in the year as a precaution to avoid injury, but if he had pitched in this game the Nationals very likely would be moving on.  No team had ever lost a do-or-die game after being up by 4 or more runs.
• After a pair of extra inning games, the Baltimore Orioles and New York Yankees played a low scoring affair that ended 3-1 after ace C.C. Sabathia (who was not shut down for the year as a precaution to avoid injury) threw a complete game.  He was the first Yankee to do so in the playoffs since Roger Clemens in 2000.  Sabathia benefited from a very close call after Baltimore's Nath McClouth hit a ball down the right field line that was foul by a matter of inches, if not less.  At the time, the game was 1-0 and it may have turned out differently if the Orioles had been able to tie the game.
• The Detroit Tigers won their matchup against the Oakland A's and the San Francisco Giants defeated the Cincinnati Reds, becoming the first team in National League Divisional Series play to win a series after being down 2-0. 
• The Cardinals and Giants, who play in the NLDS, are the last two World Series champions.

MLB Playoffs update, Bounty suspension stands

Bay Area Teams still alive

• The Oakland Athletics defeated the Detroit Tigers to stay alive in their AL Division Series. The A’s were aided by an over-the-wall catch by centerfielder Coco Crisp, and a diving catch by leftfielder Yoenis Cespedes both robbing Tigers hitters of extra base hits. These defensive plays aided a strong pitching performance by Brett Anderson to help the A’s play another game.
• The San Francisco Giants defeated the Cincinnati Reds taking advantage of two mistakes by the Reds in the 10th inning. A passed ball by Ryan Hanigan and an error by Scott Rolen gave the Giants the lead they would not relinquish, as they were finally able to win a game.  The Reds are still without ace Johnny Cueto who left in the first inning of Game 1 with back spasms.
• The Yankees and Orioles are tied at one game apiece, as are the Cardinals and Nationals. Both of these series are playing their third games today.


Vilma suspension stands

• Saints Linebacker Johnathan Vilma's season long suspension was upheld in an appeal Tuesday night, meaning he will miss the entire season (but will be paid for the first 6 games since he was placed on PUP list with an injury, which guarantees pay for those games).
• Vilma took to Twitter, immediately blasting NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, saying: "This is not news to me pride won't let him admit he's wrong."  Goodell did reduce the suspension lengths of Browns LB Scott Fujita and Packers DE Anthony Hargrove, each of whom was with the Saints during the bounty program.
• It is a big blow for the Saints defense, who could have used one of their best players as they try to recover from a 0-4 start to make the playoffs, something only one 0-4 team has done in NFL history.

Football, MLB playoff updates

Topsy-Turvy Top 5 in NCAA

• Coming into this week, the Florida State Seminoles looked to be back, after running through college football for much of the late 90s, the Seminoles had taken a back seat to in-state rival University of Florida. This season was supposed to be different. Coming into the weekend ranked #3 in the country, and taking on the 3-2 NC State Wolfpack, FSU looked to be safe. However, a 4th down touchdown pass from Mike Glennon to Bryan Underwood with less than 20 seconds remaining pulled NC State even to FSU at 16, and the ensuing extra point gave them the victory and major upset. Another year and another irrelevant ACC football team as far as the BCS championship goes.
• The SEC is far from irrelevant as far as the BCS goes, coming into the weekend this powerhouse conference had four of the top six teams in the country, with two of them taking each other on. The #6 South Carolina Gamecocks hosted the #5 Georgia Bulldogs. The Gamecocks rolled, and that’s putting it nicely. They scored 35 points and only gave up a garbage time touchdown to the Bulldogs, to win 35-7. South Carolina running back Marcus Lattimore ran for 109 yards and a touchdown, leading the way for the Gamecocks.
• Another big SEC showdown came in the form on #4 LSU at #10 Florida, where despite a very pedestrian offensive game, especially from quarterback Jeff Brantley, Florida rolled to a important victory, 14-6.  For those of you keeping track, the #3, #4 and #5 teams all lost on the same day, the first time that's happened early in the 2008 season.
• The Oregon Ducks were the only top 5 team who won (#1 Alabama had the week off) rolling over their competition on Saturday. Hosting the #21 Washington Huskies, the #2 Ducks scored three unanswered touchdowns in the first quarter and never looked back. Running their typical quick hit offense, the Ducks scored 52 and only gave up 21 to dominate and reinforce their claim as a top team in the country.


Big games in NFL

• On primetime TV and in front of their suspended head coach for the first time this year, The New Orleans Saints finally got their first win Sunday night, defeating the San Diego Chargers 31-24 after rallying late from a 10 point deficit.  Drew Brees was his typically impressive self, throwing for 370 yards and 4 TD's and in so doing, broke the All-Time record for most consecutive games with a TD pass, doing so in his 48th straight game which bested Johnny Unitas's longstanding record of 47.
• Coming into the season as Super Bowl contenders, the Saints have seemingly lost games every way possible and are already 4 games behind the undefeated Atlanta Falcons for the division title.  Only 1 0-4 team has ever gone on to even make the playoffs, although that stat may be deceiving because few, if any, 0-4 teams are as talented as the Saints.  If they figure out their issues and start winning games, they could be a team that no one wants to face in the playoffs.
• In other action, the Bears and Vikings continued their solid starts with convincing wins.  The Bears showed that they should be considered Super Bowl contenders themselves, demolishing Jacksonville 41-3, while the Vikings won their 3rd straight game, beating the Titans 30-7, to go 4-1 and surpass their win total from the entire 2011 season.  Both teams are now 2 games ahead of the Green Bay Packers who shockingly let an 18 point halftime lead slip away against the Indianapolis Colts to lose 30-27.
• Additionally, the Philadelphia Eagles lost the battle of Pennsylvania 16-14 to the Pittsburgh Steelers on a last-second Field Goal.  4 of the Eagles' 5 games have been decided by 2 points or less (although this was the first of those that they lost).


Baseball Playoffs Underway

• After the excitement of the end of the regular season, Friday’s one-game wildcard playoffs added just as much drama. The less thrilling game was the Baltimore Orioles defeating the Texas Rangers and their high priced free agent pitcher from Japan Yu Darvish by a score of 5-1.
• The more contentious game was the St. Louis Cardinals defeating the Atlanta Braves. Braves fans are up in arms because in the 8th inning while down four runs, with two men on and one out, Andrelton Simmons hit a flare into left field. The shortstop and left fielder converged on the ball and in apparent miscommunication, let the ball drop between them. However, the left field umpire (with over a decade of umpire experience) used the infield fly rule to call Simmons out. A questionable call, put the Braves in a much tougher position. The Cardinals ended up winning 6-3, and who knows what would have happened if Atlanta had had bases loaded with one out instead of two on with two out in the 8th inning.
• In the National League, the Cardinals lost to the Washington Nationals 3-2 in the first game of their best of five series, and the Cincinnati Reds are up 2-0 looking to advance to the National League Championship Series. In the American League the Detroit Tigers lead the Oakland Athletics 2-0 in their series, while the New York Yankees struck first in the other American League series, breaking open a 2-2 tie with 5 runs in the 9th inning.

Cabrera finishes historic season, NHL on fritz

Cabrera Wins Triple Crown

• Detroit Tigers 3B Miguel Cabrera became the first player in 45 years (Carl Yaztremski was the last) to lead his league in batting average, home runs, and RBI's, the three stat categories that are considered baseball's triple crown.  Cabrera spent most of the season as the RBI leader, took over in batting average a bit later and overtook Texas's Josh Hamilton in the final week of the season in home runs.
• It may have been what he needed to secure the AL MVP as Anaheim's Mike Trout is having easily the greatest rookie season in MLB history and is considered by some to already be the best player in the majors due to his extreme combination of speed, power and incredible defense. 
• Cabrera's finals for the year were a .330 batting average, 44 HR and 139 RBI's.  He passed the 1000 RBI and 300 HR milestones for his career this season as well.


NHL Lockout Gets Real

• The National Hockey League announced on Thursday that they were planning on cancelling the first two weeks of the season as the owners continue their lockout of the players. Cancelling the first two weeks of the season results in 82 games hitting the cutting room floor.
• The two sides are still at odds on how to split $3 billion in hockey revenue and there have been talks, which distinguishes this lockout from the 2004-05 lockout that cost the NHL the entire season but there doesn’t seem to have been much movement in recent days, leaving in doubt the shortness of the lockout.
•The lockout is the third work stoppage in the past year in the four major sports (4 if you include the NFL referee's strike) with only Major League Baseball avoiding any issues.

MLB races down to wire

AL East and West Decided Tonight

• While most of Major League Baseball is set on their postseason plans, the AL East and West have come down to tonight, the last scheduled day of the regular season. The AL West is a little clearer. Both the Oakland Athletics and Texas Rangers have qualified for the playoffs, but are tied for the division lead. They play tonight, and the winner will win the division while the loser will go into the new one-game playoff with….
• The AL East is a little more confusing. Currently, the New York Yankees have a one game lead over the Baltimore Orioles, thanks in large part to the late game heroics of Raul Ibanez. Ibanez came into the game last night, as a pinch hitter, in the 9th inning. Down 3-1 to the Boston Red Sox (who can't wait for the 2012 season to end) and knowing the Orioles were only a half game back of them, the Yankees had to pull out all the stops. Ibanez was able to hit a game-tying 2-run home run. Then in the 12th inning, Ibanez again came through with a single that scored backup catcher Francisco Cervelli from second base. These two clutch hits propelled the Yankees to the brink of the AL East division championship.
• Tonight, the Yankees again play the Red Sox. If the Yankees win, no matter what, they win the AL East Division. If the Baltimore Orioles lose, no matter what, the Yankees win the division. If the Yankees lose and the Orioles win, there will be a one-game playoff to see who wins the AL East. The loser of that game will then go on to play the loser of the Athletics/Rangers game in the one-game wild card playoff game, while the Detroit Tigers (and probable Triple Crown winner Miguel Cabrera, who we'll talk about on Friday) sit back and watch awaiting news of who they get to play.  Welcome to the new playoff system in Major League Baseball!

Exciting Finishes

• Four games (so far) in Week 4 came down to last second field goals. The Atlanta Falcons defeated the Carolina Panthers after the Panthers decided to punt on 4th and inches instead of trying to ice the game by getting a first down. The Falcons then proceeded to drive more than 70 yards in less than a minute to give their kicker, Matt Bryant, a very makeable 40-yard field goal in the last few seconds of regulation. The Falcons needed the extra 3 points to win 30-28, to move to 4-0 on the season.
• Meanwhile, the New Orleans Saints fell to 0-4 after missing a last second field goal of their own. Down 28-27 to the Green Bay Packers, the Saints were set to kick a 43-yard field goal to win the game. A holding penalty then made the kick a little longer (though partially offset by a 5 yard penalty by the Packers). Even still Garrett Hartley missed the 48-yard attempt at the end of the game and the Packers went on to win the game.
• The Tampa Bay Bucs went on a furious comeback to take the lead with less than two minutes left against the Washington Redskins, but RGIII led the Redskins on an efficient drive down the field, culminating in a game-winning field goal by Billy Cundiff, who had previously been 0 for 3 on the day.
• The New York Giants and Philadelphia Eagles were both looking to go to 3-1. The Eagles kicked a field goal with about 1:45 left in the game to go up 19-17. The Giants marched down the field, thanks largely to two big pass interference calls on the Eagles. However, with about 20 seconds left, Giants receiver Ramses Barden basically tackled Nnamdi Asomugha with the ball in the air. The offensive pass interference was the difference when Lawrence Tynes (the Giants kicker) missed the game winning field goal by less than 2 yards. The kick likely would have been good before the offensive pass interference call made it longer.


Big blowouts

• The San Francisco 49ers were embarrassed last week by the Minnesota Vikings. Despite being expected to be one of the best teams in the league this year, they were beat soundly by the lowly Vikings. They came out this week on a mission though, as their defense consistently put pressure on Mark Sanchez and caused turnovers, in a brutal 34-0 victory over the New York Jets.
• In the first half of their game against the Buffalo Bills, the New England Patriots scored 7 points and were lucky to only be down 14-7.  The second half was a whole different story as the Pats put up 45 points. Tom Brady and his old go-to target Wes Welker connected 9 times for 129 yards, and for the first time in nearly 30 years, the Patriots had 2 100 yard rushers as rookie Bryan Bolden ripped apart the Bills defense for 137 yards and Stevan Ridley reached the century mark as well.  For one half at least, the Patriots looked like they were ready to reclaim their crown as the best of the AFC.


Mind-boggling offense

• The craziest game of the week doesn't go to any of the NFL teams but to two college squads.  West Virginia, who just moved to the offensively minded Big 12, made their new hosts feel very at home by allowing 63 points to Baylor.  Usually that results in an embarrassing loss, however West Virginia actually won the game 70-63 because QB Geno Smith went off completing 45 of 51 passes for 656 yards and 8 TD's.  That's right he had more touchdowns than incompletions.
• Nick Florence, who replaces Heisman Trophy winner Robert GRiffin III did an admirable job filling in by throwing for 581 yards and 5 TD's himself, but his defense let him down.
• It was the most points ever scored in the big 12 and the most ever involving a ranked team (both were ranked actually with WVA at #9 and Baylor at #25).